This research addresses the question under what conditions will rank and file legislators favor or oppose changes in a legislature’s internal rules of order. The study deviates from previous approaches to the study of legislatures in four primary ways: 1) the study moves from advanced democratized cases of the U.S. Congress and British House of Commons to cases of neo-democracies; 2) the study considers the interaction between the design of the electoral system and its impact on legislature organization; 3) in addition to chamber level factors, party and individual level factors are considered; and 4) the theory considers when legislators will rebel against attempts by party leadership to alter the internal rules of order. The central question focused on is what factors influence legislators’ willingness to speak out or vote against changes in the internal rules of order following a change in the electoral system design. The theory proposed that when it comes to changing the internal rules of order of a legislative chamber, the effective number of parties in the chamber, the effect of proposed changes in the rules of order on legislator behavior, party discipline, and the nature of legislator ambition affect the probability that change occurs. Experimental and statistical methodologies are used to test the hypotheses derived from the theory. Original data were collected from experiments conducted on undergraduate pupils at Texas A&M University. For the statistical analyses, a data set of proposed changes in the rules of order were compiled using archived data from the Colombian Senate and Peruvian Congress. This multi-method approach was used because of the nature of the question under examination and to minimize limitations of the individual methodologies. The experimental analyses demonstrate that the operations of the theory are supported in the controlled environment of the experiment. The results from the statistical analyses were, within the restrictions imposed by the data, consistent with both theoretical expectations and the experimental findings. The most consistent factor influencing change in the rules of order is the effect of the proposal followed by party discipline.

Limited time is an important constraint and resource that is fundamental to governing. This dissertation studies the connection between limited time and political power in three different contexts. / Government

<p>By what means can legislative committees exercise influence on policy outputs? How and why do committees in different countries differ in their abilities to do so? This dissertation argues that legislative committee power is a multidimensional concept. Committee procedures can be distinguished into three analytic dimensions: 1) committees' positive agenda power, their power to ensure the placement of legislative versions preferred by them on the floor; 2) committees' negative agenda power, their power to delay or block the progress of legislation; and 3) committees' information capacity, institutional incentives granted to them to gather and transmit information. These distinct dimensions benefit different legislative actors. Therefore, they reflect different features of a political system, and may not be consistently strong or week.</p><p>Based on an original cross-national data set, the dissertation shows that committee procedures cluster empirically in these three distinct dimensions. Furthermore, the dissertation also demonstrates how legislators' electoral incentives, the composition of multiparty governments, preexisting authoritarian incumbents' uncertainty and bargaining power, and the changes in legislative memberships affect different dimensions of committee power.</p> / Dissertation

O objetivo desta pesquisa é avaliar o papel das estratégias partidárias no desempenho do Legislativo em Cabo Verde, em dois pares de legislaturas: de 1991 a 2001 e de 2001 a 2011. As hipóteses centrais são as de que em regimes semipresidenciais a delegação de poderes do Legislativo (mandante) ao Executivo (agente) não limita o controle do Parlamento sobre os atos do Governo, sobretudo em matéria da produção legislativa. Sendo assim, o padrão do desempenho do Legislativo reflete as preferências da maioria e a sua estratégia de decisão em transferir os custos do Legislativo para o Executivo. O quadro teórico utilizado suporta-se em elementos do neoinstitucionalismo e a sua vertente de Rational Choice, e visam compreender, a partir dos arranjos institucionais cabo-verdianos, as estratégias partidárias utilizadas por partidos políticos e parlamentares que vêm tornando ineficiente o desempenho do Legislativo. / The objective of this research is to evaluate the role of party strategies in the Legislature's performance in Cape Verde in two legislatures pairs: from 1991 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2011. The key assumptions are that semi-presidential regimes in the legislature's powers of delegation (principal) Executive (agent) does not limit the control of Parliament over the acts of the Government, especially as regards the legislative process. Thus, the pattern of legislative performance reflects the preferences of the majority and the decision strategy to transfer the Legislative costs for the Executive. The theoretical framework supports in neoinstitutionalism elements and its aspects of Rational Choice , and seek to understand, from the Cape Verdean institutional arrangements , partisan strategies used by political parties and parliamentarians who come making inefficient the Legislature 's performance.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é avaliar o papel das estratégias partidárias no desempenho do Legislativo em Cabo Verde, em dois pares de legislaturas: de 1991 a 2001 e de 2001 a 2011. As hipóteses centrais são as de que em regimes semipresidenciais a delegação de poderes do Legislativo (mandante) ao Executivo (agente) não limita o controle do Parlamento sobre os atos do Governo, sobretudo em matéria da produção legislativa. Sendo assim, o padrão do desempenho do Legislativo reflete as preferências da maioria e a sua estratégia de decisão em transferir os custos do Legislativo para o Executivo. O quadro teórico utilizado suporta-se em elementos do neoinstitucionalismo e a sua vertente de Rational Choice, e visam compreender, a partir dos arranjos institucionais cabo-verdianos, as estratégias partidárias utilizadas por partidos políticos e parlamentares que vêm tornando ineficiente o desempenho do Legislativo. / The objective of this research is to evaluate the role of party strategies in the Legislature's performance in Cape Verde in two legislatures pairs: from 1991 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2011. The key assumptions are that semi-presidential regimes in the legislature's powers of delegation (principal) Executive (agent) does not limit the control of Parliament over the acts of the Government, especially as regards the legislative process. Thus, the pattern of legislative performance reflects the preferences of the majority and the decision strategy to transfer the Legislative costs for the Executive. The theoretical framework supports in neoinstitutionalism elements and its aspects of Rational Choice , and seek to understand, from the Cape Verdean institutional arrangements , partisan strategies used by political parties and parliamentarians who come making inefficient the Legislature 's performance.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é avaliar o papel das estratégias partidárias no desempenho do Legislativo em Cabo Verde, em dois pares de legislaturas: de 1991 a 2001 e de 2001 a 2011. As hipóteses centrais são as de que em regimes semipresidenciais a delegação de poderes do Legislativo (mandante) ao Executivo (agente) não limita o controle do Parlamento sobre os atos do Governo, sobretudo em matéria da produção legislativa. Sendo assim, o padrão do desempenho do Legislativo reflete as preferências da maioria e a sua estratégia de decisão em transferir os custos do Legislativo para o Executivo. O quadro teórico utilizado suporta-se em elementos do neoinstitucionalismo e a sua vertente de Rational Choice, e visam compreender, a partir dos arranjos institucionais cabo-verdianos, as estratégias partidárias utilizadas por partidos políticos e parlamentares que vêm tornando ineficiente o desempenho do Legislativo. / The objective of this research is to evaluate the role of party strategies in the Legislature's performance in Cape Verde in two legislatures pairs: from 1991 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2011. The key assumptions are that semi-presidential regimes in the legislature's powers of delegation (principal) Executive (agent) does not limit the control of Parliament over the acts of the Government, especially as regards the legislative process. Thus, the pattern of legislative performance reflects the preferences of the majority and the decision strategy to transfer the Legislative costs for the Executive. The theoretical framework supports in neoinstitutionalism elements and its aspects of Rational Choice , and seek to understand, from the Cape Verdean institutional arrangements , partisan strategies used by political parties and parliamentarians who come making inefficient the Legislature 's performance.